Spinning process of waterless colored heather yarns

ABSTRACT

A method of forming a colored heather yarn, comprising the sequential steps: (a) processing a natural fiber; (b) obtaining a regenerated cellulose man-made fiber that comprises an uncolored regenerated cellulose man-made fiber, a waterless dope-dyed regenerated cellulose man-made fiber, or both; (c) producing a man-made fiber that comprises an uncolored man-made fiber, a waterless dope-dyed man-made fiber, or both; (d) blending the natural fiber from step (a) with the individual fibers from step (b), step (c), or both to produce a blended composite of fibers; and (e) roving, spinning and winding the blended composite of fibers of step (d) into a final colored heather yarn; wherein the colored heather yarn comprises a predetermined fiber content ratio. There is also provided a colored heather yarn made according to the foregoing method.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/480,443 filed on Apr. 6, 2017, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/389,643filed on Dec. 23, 2016. The disclosures of both prior-filed applicationsare herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to a method of forming a coloredheather yarn. The present invention also relates to the colored heatheryarn made according to the method as defined herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Textile manufacturing is one of the oldest human activities that haveevolved throughout the years. It is considered as one of the majorindustries that have attracted abundance of attention. It is based onthe conversion of different types of fiber into different types of yarnand then yarns into their respective types of fabric. In this regard,textile manufacturing includes several processes such as cultivating andharvesting, preparatory processes, spinning processes, weaving orknitting and finally finishing processes to obtain the desired textile.

Among the industrial methods used, there are certain processes thatrequire high consumption of energy in the form of water and electricity,especially in processes like washing, de-sizing, bleaching, rinsing,dyeing, spinning, printing, coating and finishing. These processes arestill not as environmental friendly as they should be. In particular,the two processes that utilize the highest amount of energy are dyeingand spinning processes. These two processes require high consumption ofwater due to the nature of their methods. Furthermore, during thepreparatory processes such as carding, combing and/or drawing, theprocesses would cause the fibers to break easily, thus generating highfiber wastage. In addition, some of the dyeing processes also lackfastness properties, leading to demand that a more efficient andenergy-saving method be developed to overcome these disadvantages.

Dyeing is the process of imparting colors to textile materials likefibers, yarns and fabrics through a dye (color). Dyeing is generallydone in a special solution containing dyes and particular chemicalmaterials. The more common methods of dyeing include direct dyeing,stock dyeing, top dyeing, yarn dyeing, dope dyeing and garment dyeing.Of these methods, direct dyeing and yarn dyeing are the most popularones that require the use of aqueous solutions. More recently, methodsfor specific fibers were developed such as heat transfer printing forpolyester fibers, which is a simple method to use and a highly economicprocess for polyester coloration. This process utilizes sublimation todisperse dyes that are either dissolved in a minimal amount of water orsolvent at a temperature of about 210° C. The sublimation process isgenerally related to the relative molecular mass of the dyes: thesmaller the dye molecules, the better the transferability ontopolyester. Further, methods such as using ultrasonic energy in thedyeing process have also been widely studied due to improvements such asreducing energy cost. In particular, the Cold Pad Batch (CPB) dyeingmethod offers a most economical and convenient method of dyeing cottonwith reactive dyes. The energy and water consumption are reduced andsalt addition is eliminated, thus rendering it more eco-friendly andproviding a high degree of dye fixation.

The other process that is of great concern is the spinning process whichincludes wet spinning, dry spinning, melt spinning (extrusion anddirect), gel spinning and electro-spinning. In fact, most spinningmethods require a solvent or aqueous solution for dissolving the polymerto a fluid state, except melt spinning where the polymer can be meltedto a molten state. However, a melt spinning step has limitations such asan inadequate range of colored polyester chips. In this regard, there isa demand to develop a more efficient method for the spinning step suchthat the consumption of water is drastically reduced while providing awider range of polyester chips to obtain the respective colored fibers.Further, other spinning processes can be utilized in yarn manufacturesuch as conventional ring spinning, open-end or rotor spinning, andair-jet or vortex spinning. Although rotor and air-jet spinning methodshave higher production rates than ring spinning, the rotor spun yarnsand air jet yarns are weaker and have a harsher feel than ring spunyarns. Further, ring spinning has a higher production cost due to itsadditional processes than rotor and air-jet spinning. Hence, there is ademand for affordable ring spun yarns with a decent production rate asthe yarns are usually of higher quality and are produced in a fine tomedium count.

Accordingly, there is a need to provide an alternative spinning processthat overcomes, or at least ameliorates, one or more of thedisadvantages described above. There is also a need to provide aspinning process which does not use an aqueous solution or solvent toobtain heather yarns.

SUMMARY

According to a first aspect, there is provided a method of forming acolored heather yarn having a predetermined fiber content ratio, themethod including the steps of (a) processing a natural fiber; (b)obtaining a regenerated cellulose man-made fiber that comprises anuncolored regenerated cellulose man-made fiber, a waterless dope-dyedregenerated cellulose man-made fiber, or both; (c) producing a man-madefiber that comprises an uncolored man-made fiber, a waterless dope-dyedman-made fiber, or both; (d) blending the natural fiber from step (a)with the individual fibers from step (b), step (c), or both to produce ablended composite of fibers; and (e) roving, spinning and winding theblended composite of fibers of step (d) into a final colored heatheryarn.

Advantageously, the above method may result in the formation of coloredheather yarn with bleachable performance that does not utilize any waterduring the bleaching and/or dyeing process. The above method may also becost efficient and may not utilize any amount of water such that theabove method does not produce effluent discharge and is sustainable andeco-friendly. The above method may further prevent the excessive use ofextra-long sliver (XLS) fibers to compensate the fiber breakage duringthe blowing room, carding and drawing processes thereby providingfurther cost and fiber reductions.

According to another aspect, there is provided a colored heather yarnmade according to a method as defined herein.

Advantageously, the above method may result in the formation of coloredheather yarn with improved quality and enhanced yarn strength. Thecolored heather yarn may be benzoyl peroxide safe. The colored heatheryarn may also contain enhanced color effects with an enriched heatherappearance under the same fiber content ratio.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures where like reference numerals refer toidentical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate viewsand which together with the detailed description below are incorporatedin and form part of the specification, serve to illustrate variousembodiments and to explain various principles and advantages inaccordance with a present embodiment.

FIG. 1A and B show two process flow charts of the entire system inaccordance with a present embodiment from the beginning with raw cottonand polyester fibers under Ring (Combed and Carded) spinning system tillthe end of the process.

FIG. 2 is a process flow chart of a first passage drawing in accordancewith the system disclosed in FIG. 1, where one dope-dyed raw or recycledpolyester sliver feed (101) is combined with seven raw cotton sliversfeed (102), and are sent into a first passage drawing to form the firstblend of colored slivers (111) having a 12.5% colored fiber contentratio.

FIG. 3 is a process flow chart of a second passage drawing in accordancewith the system disclosed in FIG. 1, where two dope-dyed colored sliversfeed (111) from FIG. 2 are combined with six raw cotton slivers feed(102), and are sent into a second passage drawing to form the secondblend of colored slivers (121) having a 3.125% colored fiber contentratio.

FIG. 4 shows the colored fibers being entangled with a blowing roomblending in accordance with the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 shows the colored fibers aligned with a general strand directionunder a sliver blend in accordance with the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 depicts a flow of steps in forming a colored heather yarn inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Referring to FIG. 4, an illustration (400) of a blended fiber (402)shows the relatively blurred effect as the conventional dyed fiberblended at the blowing room stage is entangled with other fibers withinthe blend of fibers (404). The blend of fibers (404) is relatively even,therefore resulting in low visibility of the color effect, especiallywhen the color ratio is small such as 97/3 or 95/5.

Referring to FIG. 5, an illustration (500) of a blended fiber (502)demonstrates that by feeding or blending dope-dyed polyester sliver, rawor recycled, at the drawing stage advantageously provides betteralignment of small percentage of colored polyester fibers such as 97/3or 95/5 to exhibit outstanding color effects.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and isnot intended to limit the invention or the application and uses of theinvention. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theorypresented in the preceding background of the invention or the followingdetailed description.

Exemplary, non-limiting embodiments of a method for forming a coloredheather yarn will now be disclosed with the aid of FIG. 6, which depictsa flow of steps in forming the colored heather yarn. The methodcomprises the steps: (a) processing a natural fiber; (b) obtaining aregenerated cellulose man-made fiber that comprises an uncoloredregenerated cellulose man-made fiber, a waterless dope-dyed regeneratedcellulose man-made fiber, or both; (c) producing a man-made fiber thatcomprises an uncolored man-made fiber, a waterless dope-dyed man-madefiber, or both; (d) blending the natural fiber from step (a) with theindividual fibers from step (b), step (c), or both to produce a blendedcomposite of fibers; and (e) roving, spinning and winding the blendedcomposite of fibers of step (d) into a final colored heather yarn;wherein the colored heather yarn comprises a predetermined fiber contentratio. Although FIG. 6 shows that the steps (a)-(e) are performedsequentially, the present invention is not limited to sequentialexecution of these steps. According to the present invention, some stepscan be performed in parallel, e.g., the steps (a)-(c).

The natural fiber of step (a) may be raw cotton fiber, raw flax fiber,raw kapok fiber, raw wool fiber or raw silk fiber. The natural fiber maybe raw cotton fiber and may be without any dyed colors. The naturalfiber is usually provided in a form of short staple. The method maycomprise the step (a) of processing the natural fiber which comprises aprocess selected from a combed process or a carded process. The naturalfiber of step (a) may be in the form of carded natural fiber. Thenatural fiber of step (a) may be in the form of combed natural fiber.The process may be selected depending on the quality, yarn count,strength and package of the final colored heather yarn.

The uncolored regenerated cellulose man-made fiber and the waterlessdope-dyed regenerated cellulose man-made fiber of step (b) may beobtained by purchasing. The fiber is usually provided in a form of shortstaple. Alternatively, the regenerated cellulose man-made fiber may bemanufactured by converting natural cellulose to a soluble cellulosicderivative and then applying polymer spinning of the cellulosicderivative to form the fiber. The regenerated cellulose man-made fibermay be rayon or its variations, such as viscose, cupra, modal,deacetylated acetate and lyocell.

The waterless dope-dyed man-made fiber of step (c) may comprise awaterless dope-dyed polyester fiber. The waterless dope-dyed polyesterfiber may be a raw one or a recycled one. If the fiber is the recycledone, the degree of environmental friendliness in manufacturing thewaterless dope-dyed man-made fiber is improved. The step of producingthe waterless dope-dyed polyester fiber may comprise producing thewaterless dope-dyed polyester fiber using waterless colored polyesterchips. The step of producing the waterless dope-dyed polyester fiber mayfurther comprise: heating the waterless colored polyester chips to amolten state; and spinning the molten polyester chips to form thewaterless dope-dyed polyester fiber. The waterless colored polyesterchips may be heated to an appropriate temperature where the waterlesscolored polyester chips become a molten state. The waterless coloredpolyester chips may take a period of time at the appropriate temperatureto become the molten state. The molten polyester chips may be spun at asuitable time to form the waterless dope-dyed polyester fiber.Practically, the dope-dyed man-made fiber is produced in a form of shortstaple.

The uncolored man-made fiber of step (c) may comprise an uncoloredpolyester fiber. The uncolored polyester fiber may be a raw one or arecycled one. If the fiber is the recycled one, the degree ofenvironmental friendliness in manufacturing the uncolored man-made fiberis improved. The step of producing the uncolored polyester fiber maycomprise producing the uncolored polyester fiber using uncoloredpolyester chips. The step of producing the uncolored polyester fiber mayfurther comprise: heating the uncolored polyester chips to a moltenstate; and spinning the molten polyester chips to form the uncoloredpolyester fiber. The uncolored polyester chips may be heated to anappropriate temperature where the uncolored polyester chips become amolten state. The uncolored polyester chips may take a period of time atthe appropriate temperature to become the molten state. The moltenpolyester chips may be spun at a suitable time to form the uncoloredpolyester fiber. Practically, the uncolored man-made fiber is producedin a form of short staple. The uncolored man-made fiber may not providethe colors for the final color heather yarn.

The waterless dope-dyed polyester fiber and the uncolored polyesterfiber may be produced from waterless colored polyester chips anduncolored polyester chips respectively. The polyester chips may be fromone or more liquid-containing vessels or from one or more newliquid-containing vessels or from both. The liquid-containing vesselsmay be raw or recycled. The one or more liquid-containing vessels may bemade of biodegradable synthetic polyester. The biodegradable syntheticpolyester may comprise polyethylene terephthalate (PET),polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), poly-3-hydroxybutyrates (PHBs),polyhydroxyvalerate (PHV), polyhydroxyhexanoate (PHH), polylactic acid(PLA), polybutylene succinate (PBS) or polycaprolactone (PCL). The oneor more liquid-containing vessels may be in the form of colored oruncolored PET granules. The uncolored PET granules may be colored whenspecific colorants are selected, added and fixed to the uncolored PETgranules via a thermodiffusion process. The thermodiffusion process maynot require bleaching and may not involve water during the process. Thethermodiffusion process may occur at a desirable temperature suitablefor the colorant particles to be moving from one region to anotherregion. The colored PET granules may be used as color master batch andmay be in an assortment of colors. In the case of uncolored polyesterchip, the one or more liquid-containing vessels may be in the form ofuncolored PET granules without the need to be treated by thethermodiffusion process.

The waterless dope-dyed man-made fiber may provide the colors for thefinal colored heather yarn. The colors of the waterless dope-dyedman-made fiber may be provided from the waterless colored polyesterchips. The waterless colored polyester chips may be made of rawpolyester chips that were dried under vacuum at a desirable temperaturefor a number of hours. The temperature may be in the range of about 140°C. to about 180° C., about 145° C. to about 180° C., about 150° C. toabout 180° C., about 155° C. to about 180° C., about 160° C. to about180° C., about 165° C. to about 180° C., about 170° C. to about 180° C.,about 175° C. to about 180° C., about 140° C. to about 145° C., about140° C. to about 150° C., about 140° C. to about 155° C., about 140° C.to about 160° C., about 140° C. to about 165° C., about 140° C. to about170° C. or about 140° C. to about 175° C. The number of hours requiredfor drying the raw polyester chips may be up to 24 hours, 22 hours, 20hours, 18 hours, 16 hours, 14 hours, 12 hours, 10 hours, 8 hours, 6hours, 4 hours or 2 hours. The vacuum-dried raw polyester chips may beblended with a designated amount of color master batch as mentionedabove, and may be heated to an appropriate temperature, melted to moltenstate and spun into waterless dope-dyed man-made fibers by extrusionthough a spinneret. The temperature for the raw polyester chips and thecolor master batch to be melted may be in the range of about 250° C. toabout 300° C., about 250° C. to about 255° C., about 250° C. to about260° C., about 250° C. to about 265° C., about 250° C. to about 270° C.,about 250° C. to about 275° C., about 250° C. to about 280° C., about250° C. to about 285° C., about 250° C. to about 290° C., about 250° C.to about 295° C., about 255° C. to about 300° C., about 260° C. to about300° C., about 265° C. to about 300° C., about 270° C. to about 300° C.,about 275° C. to about 300° C., about 280° C. to about 300° C., about285° C. to about 300° C., about 290° C. to about 300° C. or about 295°C. to about 300° C.

The step (d) of blending the individual fibers to produce the blendedcomposite of fibers may comprise blending at least 20% of natural fiberwith at least 3% of man-made fiber or regenerated cellulose man-madefiber, where the man-made fiber and the regenerated cellulose man-madefiber are either uncolored or waterless dope-dyed. The step (d) ofblending the individual fibers to produce the blended composite offibers may be undertaken to ensure proper color ratio and thus properfiber content ratio. The step (d) may comprise one or more passagedrawings for forming the blended composite of fibers from the individualfibers. In one embodiment, the step (d) of blending the individualfibers to produce the blended composite of fibers comprises: a firstpassage drawing to form a first blended fiber having a firstpredetermined fiber content ratio; and a second passage drawing to forma second blended fiber having a second predetermined fiber contentratio. The first passage drawing step may comprise drawing one dope-dyedpolyester fiber with seven raw sliver fibers, containing raw cottonsliver fibers and/or raw regenerated cellulose sliver fibers, to formthe first blended fiber having a 12.5% colored sliver fiber contentratio. The second passage drawing step may comprise drawing two 12.5%colored sliver fibers with six raw sliver fibers, containing raw cottonsliver fibers and/or raw regenerated cellulose sliver fibers, to formthe second blended fiber having a 3.125% colored blended heather sliverfiber content ratio.

The final colored heather yarn may comprise the natural fiber having afiber content ratio of at least 20%, at least 21%, at least 22%, atleast 23%, at least 24%, at least 25%, at least 26%, at least 27%, atleast 28%, at least 29%, at least 30%, at least 31%, at least 32%, atleast 33%, at least 34%, at least 35%, at least 36%, at least 37%, atleast 38%, at least 39%, at least 40%, at least 41%, at least 42%, atleast 43%, at least 44%, at least 45%, at least 46%, at least 47%, atleast 48%, at least 49%, at least 50%, at least 51%, at least 52%, atleast 53%, at least 54%, at least 55%, at least 56%, at least 57%, atleast 58%, at least 59%, at least 60%, at least 61%, at least 62%, atleast 63%, at least 64%, at least 65%, at least 66%, at least 67%, atleast 68%, at least 69%, at least 70%, at least 71%, at least 72%, atleast 73%, at least 74%, at least 75%, at least 76%, at least 77%, atleast 78%, at least 79%, at least 80%, at least 81%, at least 82%, atleast 83%, at least 84%, at least 85%, at least 86%, at least 87%, atleast 88%, at least 89%, at least 90%, at least 91%, at least 92%, atleast 93%, at least 94%, at least 95%, at least 96% or at least 97%.

If the final colored heather yarn comprises the regenerated celluloseman-made fiber, the regenerated cellulose man-made fiber has a fibercontent ratio of at least 3%, at least 4%, at least 5%, at least 6%, atleast 7%, at least 8%, at least 9%, at least 10%, at least 11%, at least12%, at least 13%, at least 14%, at least 15%, at least 16%, at least17%, at least 18%, at least 19%, at least 20%, at least 21%, at least22%, at least 23%, at least 24%, at least 25%, at least 26%, at least27%, at least 28%, at least 29%, at least 30%, at least 31%, at least32%, at least 33%, at least 34%, at least 35%, at least 36%, at least37%, at least 38%, at least 39%, at least 40%, at least 41%, at least42%, at least 43%, at least 44%, at least 45%, at least 46%, at least47%, at least 48%, at least 49%, at least 50%, at least 51%, at least52%, at least 53%, at least 54%, at least 55%, at least 56%, at least57%, at least 58%, at least 59%, at least 60%, at least 61%, at least62%, at least 63%, at least 64%, at least 65%, at least 66° /0, at least67%, at least 68%, at least 69%, at least 70%, at least 71%, at least72%, at least 73%, at least 74%, at least 75%, at least 76%, at least77%, at least 78%, at least 79% or at least 80%, wherein the regeneratedcellulose man-made fiber comprises any combination of the uncoloredregenerated cellulose man-made fiber and the waterless dope-dyedregenerated cellulose man-made fiber.

If the final colored heather yarn comprises the man-made fiber, theman-made fiber has a fiber content ratio of at least 3%, at least 4%, atleast 5%, at least 6%, at least 7%, at least 8%, at least 9%, at least10%, at least 11%, at least 12%, at least 13%, at least 14%, at least15%, at least 16%, at least 17%, at least 18%, at least 19%, at least20%, at least 21%, at least 22%, at least 23%, at least 24%, at least25%, at least 26%, at least 27%, at least 28%, at least 29%, at least30%, at least 31%, at least 32%, at least 33%, at least 34%, at least35%, at least 36%, at least 37%, at least 38%, at least 39%, at least40%, at least 41%, at least 42%, at least 43%, at least 44%, at least45%, at least 46%, at least 47%, at least 48%, at least 49%, at least50%, at least 51%, at least 52%, at least 53%, at least 54%, at least55%, at least 56%, at least 57%, at least 58%, at least 59%, at least60%, at least 61%, at least 62%, at least 63%, at least 64%, at least65%, at least 66%, at least 67%, at least 68%, at least 69%, at least70%, at least 71%, at least 72%, at least 73%, at least 74%, at least75%, at least 76%, at least 77%, at least 78%, at least 79% or at least80%, wherein the man-made fiber comprises any combination of theuncolored man-made fiber and the waterless dope-dyed man-made fiber.

In the final colored heather yarn, optionally the natural fiber contentand a total man-made fiber content are blended in a ratio of about60/40, where the total man-made fiber content means a collection or anaggregate of both the regenerated cellulose man-made fiber and thewaterless dope-dyed man-made fiber. The selection of the 60/40 ratio hasan advantage in that the final colored heather yarn formed under thisratio offers comfort to a person when the person wears a garment made bythis yarn. Practically, the ratio of the natural fiber content to thetotal man-made fiber content may be chosen to be at least 20/80.

The natural fiber of the blended composite of fibers may be processedvia a carded process. The carded natural fiber of the blended compositeof fibers may be spun into the colored heather yarn having a yarn sizeof 21/1 Ne or below. The natural fiber of the blended composite offibers may be processed via a combed process. The combed natural fiberof the blended composite of fibers may be spun into the colored heatheryarn having a yarn size of 21/1 Ne or above.

The blending of individual fibers from steps (a)-(c) in accordance withstep (d) may prevent the excessive use of extra-long sliver fibers tocompensate the fiber breakage during the blowing room, carding anddrawing processes.

Processing in accordance with the above method is cost efficient anddoes not utilize any amount of water such that the above method does notproduce effluent discharge and is sustainable and eco-friendly. Theabove method of forming a colored heather yarn further advantageouslyprevents the excessive use of extra-long sliver fibers to compensate thefiber breakage during the blowing room, carding and drawing processes.

Exemplary, non-limiting embodiments of a colored heather yarn fabricatedin accordance with the above method will now be disclosed.

In the colored heather yarn, the predetermined fiber content ratio ofthe colored heather yarn may be in the range of about 20/80 to about97/3, about 21/79 to about 97/3, about 22/78 to about 97/3, about 23/77to about 97/3, about 24/76 to about 97/3, about 25/75 to about 97/3,about 26/74 to about 97/3, about 27/73 to about 97/3, about 28/72 toabout 97/3, about 29/71 to about 97/3, about 30/70 to about 97/3, about31/69 to about 97/3, about 32/68 to about 97/3, about 33/67 to about97/3, about 34/66 to about 97/3, about 35/65 to about 97/3, about 36/64to about 97/3, about 37/63 to about 97/3, about 38/62 to about 97/3,about 39/61 to about 97/3, about 40/60 to about 97/3, about 41/59 toabout 97/3, about 42/58 to about 97/3, about 43/57 to about 97/3, about44/56 to about 97/3, about 45/55 to about 97/3, about 46/54 to about97/3, about 47/53 to about 97/3, about 48/52 to about 97/3, about 49/51to about 97/3, about 50/50 to about 97/3, about 51/49 to about 97/3,about 52/48 to about 97/3, about 53/47 to about 97/3, about 54/46 toabout 97/3, about 55/45 to about 97/3, about 56/44 to about 97/5, about57/43 to about 97/3, about 58/42 to about 97/3, about 59/41 to about97/3, about 60/40 to about 97/3, about 61/39 to about 97/3, about 62/38to about 97/3, about 63/37 to about 97/3, about 64/36 to about 97/3,about 65/35 to about 97/3, about 66/34 to about 97/3, about 67/33 toabout 97/3, about 68/32 to about 97/3, about 69/31 to about 97/3, about70/30 to about 97/3, about 71/29 to about 97/3, about 72/28 to about97/3, about 73/27 to about 97/3, about 74/26 to about 97/3, about 75/25to about 97/3, about 76/24 to about 97/3, about 77/23 to about 97/3,about 78/22 to about 97/3, about 79/21 to about 97/3, about 80/20 toabout 97/3, about 81/19 to about 97/3, about 82/18 to about 97/3, about83/17 to about 97/3, about 84/16 to about 97/3, about 85/15 to about97/3, about 86/14 to about 97/3, about 87/13 to about 97/3, about 88/12to about 97/3, about 89/11 to about 97/3, about 90/10 to about 97/3,about 91/9 to about 97/3, about 92/8 to about 97/3, about 93/7 to about97/3, about 94/6 to about 97/3, about 95/5 to about 97/3 or about 96/4to about 97/3 of cotton fibers/other fibers.

The colored heather yarn may comprise carded natural fiber. The coloredheather yarn comprising carded natural fiber of the blended composite offibers may have a yarn count of 21/1 Ne or below that corresponds to acoarser yarn count. The colored heather yarn may have a yarn count of21/1 Ne or below like 12.5/1 Ne. The colored heather yarn having a yarncount of 21/1 Ne or below may be used as throw blankets and/or towels.

The colored heather yarn may comprise combed natural fiber. The coloredheather yarn comprising combed natural fiber of the blended composite offibers may have a yarn count of 21/1 Ne or above that corresponds to afiner yarn count. The colored heather yarn may have a yarn count of 21/1Ne or above like 26/1 Ne or 60/1 Ne. The colored heather yarn with ayarn count of 21/1 Ne or above may be used as shirts, light-weightshirts/blouse and/or beddings. The colored heather yarn may have a yarncount in the range of about 10/1 Ne to about 80/1 Ne, about 15/1 Ne toabout 80/1 Ne, about 20/1 Ne to about 80/1 Ne, about 25/1 Ne to about80/1 Ne, about 30/1 Ne to about 80/1 Ne, about 35/1 Ne to about 80/1 Ne,about 40/1 Ne to about 80/1 Ne, about 45/1 Ne to about 80/1 Ne, about50/1 Ne to about 80/1 Ne, about 55/1 Ne to about 80/1 Ne, about 60/1 Neto about 80/1 Ne, about 65/1 Ne to about 80/1 Ne, about 70/1 Ne to about80/1 Ne, about 75/1 Ne to about 80/1 Ne, about 10/1 Ne to about 15/1 Ne,about 10/1 Ne to about 20/1 Ne, about 10/1 Ne to about 25/1 Ne, about10/1 Ne to about 30/1 Ne, about 10/1 Ne to about 35/1 Ne, about 10/1 Neto about 40/1 Ne, about 10/1 Ne to about 45/1 Ne, about 10/1 Ne to about50/1 Ne, about 10/1 Ne to about 55/1 Ne, about 10/1 Ne to about 60/1 Ne,about 10/1 Ne to about 65/1 Ne, about 10/1 Ne to about 70/1 Ne or about10/1 Ne to about 75/1 Ne.

The colored heather yarn in accordance with present embodimentsadvantageously provides superior quality with improved yarn strength dueto its uniformity or evenness of fibers. The colored heather yarn inaccordance with present embodiments also advantageously providesenhanced color effects with an enriched heather appearance under thesame fiber content ratio as mentioned above. The colored heather yarn inaccordance with present embodiments is also advantageously bleachablewithout the use of water during the bleaching and/or dyeing process andis benzoyl peroxide safe.

DEFINITIONS

The following words and terms used herein shall have the meaningsindicated:

The term ‘fiber content ratio’ is to be interpreted as a fiber weightratio. Under a situation that a first fiber comprises a second fiber, “afiber content ratio of the second fiber” is a ratio or a percentagecalculated by dividing the weight of the second fiber by the weight ofthe first fiber.

The term ‘spinning’ is to be interpreted broadly to include the textilemanufacturing process where types of fiber such as cotton, flax or wool,are converted into staple yarn and then fabrics. Spinning is the processof twisting together drawn out strands of fibers to form yarn, though itis colloquially used to describe the process of drawing out, insertingthe twist and winding onto bobbins. Alternatively, spinning is a processin which we convert fibers by passing them through certain processeslike blowing room, carding, drawing, combing, ring frame and finallywinding into yarns.

The term “ring spinning” as used herein includes the process of furtherdrawing out roving to the final yarn count needed, inserting twist tothe fibers by means of a rotating spindle and winding the yarn on abobbin. These three stages take place simultaneously and continuously.Ring spinning is the most common spinning method in the world althoughit has additional processes compared to other spinning methods such asopen-end spinning and air-jet spinning methods.

The term “drawing” as used herein includes the process where the fibersare blended, straightened and combined. Further, the number of fibers inthe sliver is reduced or separated in order to achieve the desiredlinear density in the spinning process. The drawing process alsoimproves the uniformity or evenness of the sliver. The number of drawingpassages utilized depends on the spinning system used and the endproducts. In this regard, the raw cotton fibers and the polyester fibersare blended over two passage drawing stages to arrive at the desiredfiber content ratio.

The term “blowing room” as used herein includes the process where theraw material packed in bale forms are opened, blended and cleaned, toremove the impurities on the surface of the raw material. The openingand blending processes ensure a consistent and homogenous blend offibers such that the fabric will retain the best characteristics of eachfiber. Blending can be done with either natural or manufactured fibersbut usually utilizes various combinations of manufactured fibers ormanufactured and natural fibers. This blended fiber is then passedthrough more machines to further loosen the fiber tufts and to clean andremove contaminants. In particular, the conventional heather yarns areusually prepared by blending the raw cotton with polyester fibers at theblowing room stage.

The terms “sliver fiber” and “roving” as used herein include a longbundle of fiber that is generally used to spin yarn. A sliver is createdby a carding or combing process, which is then drawn into long stripswhere the fibers are parallel. When a sliver is drawn further and givena slight twist, it becomes roving. Alternatively, when the sliver isseparated into roving, this roving is then used in the spinning processand is generally about the width of a pencil.

The terms “carded” or “carding” as used herein includes individualizing,aligning and further cleaning the fibers before reducing or condensingthem into a single continuous strand of overlapping sliver fibers. Inaddition, a large proportion of short fibers and neps are also removedduring the carding process. Accordingly, slivers that were subjected tothe carding process would be considered “carded slivers”.

The terms “combed” or “combing” as used herein include the process thatremoves the final proportion of short fibers, neps and other impuritiesto create a stronger yarn. This is an optional stage, however combedyarns are usually superior in quality than carded yarns as they aregenerally finer, stronger, smoother and more uniform due to the removalof short fibers and the alignment of fibers. Accordingly, slivers thatwere subjected to the combing process would be considered “combedslivers”.

The term “colored heather yarn” as used herein includes colored blendedheather yarn.

The term “Denier” or “Den” or “D” as used herein is a unit of measurefor the linear mass density of fibers that is the mass in grams per 9000meters of the fiber. Denier is more likely to be used in the UnitedStates and United Kingdom.

The term “Ne” as used herein is another measure of linear density, oftenknown as cotton count or Number English (Ne). Under this system, thehigher the numerical value, the finer the yarn. In the United States,cotton counts in the range of 1 to 20 are often referred to as coarsecounts and cotton counts above 21 are referred to as fine counts.

The word “substantially” does not exclude “completely” e.g. a fiberwhich is “substantially free” from Y may be completely free from Y.Where necessary, the word “substantially” may be omitted from thedefinition of the invention.

Unless specified otherwise, the terms “comprising” and “comprise”, andgrammatical variants thereof, are intended to represent “open” or“inclusive” language such that they include recited elements but alsopermit inclusion of additional, unrecited elements.

As used herein, the term “about”, in the context of concentrations offiber components, typically means +/−5% of the stated value, moretypically +/−4% of the stated value, more typically +/−3% of the statedvalue, more typically, +/−2% of the stated value, even more typically+/−1% of the stated value, and even more typically +/−0.5% of the statedvalue.

Throughout this disclosure, certain embodiments may be disclosed in arange format. It should be understood that the description in rangeformat is merely for convenience and brevity and should not be construedas an inflexible limitation on the scope of the disclosed ranges.Accordingly, the description of a range should be considered to havespecifically disclosed all the possible sub-ranges as well as individualnumerical values within that range. For example, description of a rangesuch as from 1 to 6 should be considered to have specifically disclosedsub-ranges such as from 1 to 3, from 1 to 4, from 1 to 5, from 2 to 4,from 2 to 6, from 3 to 6 etc., as well as individual numbers within thatrange, for example, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. This applies regardless of thebreadth of the range.

Certain embodiments may also be described broadly and genericallyherein. Each of the narrower species and subgeneric groupings fallingwithin the generic disclosure also form part of the disclosure. Thisincludes the generic description of the embodiments with a proviso ornegative limitation removing any subject matter from the genus,regardless of whether or not the excised material is specificallyrecited herein.

EXAMPLES

Non-limiting examples of the invention and a comparative example will befurther described in greater detail by reference to specific Examples,which should not be construed as in any way limiting the scope of theinvention.

Example 1 Ring (Combed) Spinning System

As demonstrated in FIG. 1A, raw cotton staple fibers undergo the blowingroom process to be cleaned up, and the carding process where the fibersare further cleaned up and separated. The cotton slivers are thensubjected to the drawing process to improve uniformity, and finally thecombing process to remove the final proportion of short fibers, neps andother impurities. At this point, the raw cotton staple fibers (20%-97%)are ready for the first passage drawing with the regenerated cellulosesliver fiber (3%-80%) and/or the polyester sliver fiber (3-80%) having astaple length of 38 mm at 1.5 Denier as shown in FIG. 1A. The polyestersliver fiber may comprise uncoloured polyester fiber (0%-80%) andwaterless dope-dyed polyester sliver fiber (0%-80%). The waterlessdope-dyed polyester sliver fiber is prepared using waterless coloredpolyester chips heated to a molten state, and spun in the moltenpolyester chips into the desired staple length colored fiber. To ensurea proper fiber content ratio (20/80-97/3) during the first passagedrawing stage, one dope-dyed polyester colored sliver (101) is fed withseven raw sliver fibers (102), containing raw sliver fibers, rawregenerated cellulose sliver fibers, or both, to form the first blendedfiber having a 12.5% colored sliver (111) fiber content ratio as shownin FIG. 2. Then two 12.5% colored sliver fibers (111) are fed with sixraw sliver fibers (102), containing raw sliver fibers, raw regeneratedcellulose sliver fibers, or both, at the second passage drawing stage toform the second blended fiber having a 3.125% colored heather sliver(121) fiber content ratio as shown in FIG. 3. The combined blendedheather sliver is then subjected to the roving stage where the sliverneeds to be condensed or reduced into a finer strand known as a rovingbefore it can be spun into a yarn. The roving frame draws out the sliverto a thickness of a few millimetres and inserts a small amount of twistto keep the fibers together. Finally, the desired heather yarns with ayarn size finer than 21/1 Ne, especially 60/1 Ne, that are rarelyavailable in the commercial market are prepared from the ring spinningand winding processes.

Example 2 Ring (Carded) Spinning System

As demonstrated in Example 1 and FIG. 1B, similarly, the raw cottonstaple fibers undergo the blowing room process to be cleaned up, and thefibers are further cleaned up and separated during the carding process.At this point, the raw cotton staple fibers (20%-97%) are ready for thefirst passage drawing with the regenerated cellulose sliver fiber(3%-80%) and/or the polyester sliver fiber (3-80%) having a staplelength of 38 mm at 1.5 Denier as shown in FIG. 1B. The polyester sliverfiber may comprise uncoloured polyester fiber (0%-80%) and waterlessdope-dyed polyester sliver fiber (0%-80%). The waterless dope-dyedpolyester sliver fiber is prepared using waterless colored polyesterchips, heated to a molten state, and spun in the molten polyester chipsinto the desired staple length fiber. To ensure a proper fiber contentratio (20/80-97/3) during the first passage drawing stage, one dope-dyedpolyester colored sliver (101) is fed with seven raw slivers (102),containing raw cotton sliver fibers, raw regenerated cellulose sliverfibers, or both, to form the first blended fiber having a 12.5% coloredsliver (111) fiber content ratio as shown in FIG. 2. Then two 12.5%colored slivers (111) are fed with six raw slivers (102), containing rawcotton sliver fibers, raw regenerated cellulose sliver fibers, or both,at the second passage drawing stage to form the second blended fiberhaving a 3.125% colored heather sliver (121) fiber content ratio asshown in FIG. 3. The combined blended heather sliver is then subjectedto the roving stage where the sliver needs to be condensed or reducedinto a finer strand known as a roving before it can be spun into a yarn.The roving frame draws out the sliver to a thickness of a fewmillimetres and inserts a small amount of twist to keep the fiberstogether. Finally, the desired heather yarns with yarn size like 21/1 Neor coarser are prepared after the ring spinning and winding processes.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The colored heather yarn having a yarn count of 21/1 Ne or below may becoarser. The colored heather yarn may have a yarn count of 21/1 Ne orbelow like 12.5/1 Ne. The colored heather yarn having a yarn count of21/1 Ne or below may be spun into fabric with a coarser and harsherfeel. The colored heather yarn having a coarser yarn count may be usedas throw blankets and/or towels.

The colored heather yarn having a yarn count of 21/1 Ne or above may befiner. The colored heather yarn may have a yarn count of 21/1 Ne orabove like 26/1 Ne or 60/1 Ne. The colored heather yarn having a yarncount of 21/1 Ne or above may be spun into fabric with a finer andsmoother feel. The colored heather yarn having a finer yarn count may beused as shirts, light-weight shirts/blouses and/or beddings The coloredheather yarn having a yarn count of 21/1 Ne or above may be spun intofabric having superior quality, stronger and more uniform yarn. Thecolored heather yarn having a yarn count of 21/1 Ne or above especially60/1 Ne may be commercially available at an affordable cost.

It will be apparent that various other modifications and adaptations ofthe invention will be apparent to the person skilled in the art afterreading the foregoing disclosure without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention and it is intended that all such modificationsand adaptations come within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of forming a colored heather yarn,comprising the steps of: a) processing a natural fiber; b) obtaining aregenerated cellulose man-made fiber that comprises an uncoloredregenerated cellulose man-made fiber, a waterless dope-dyed regeneratedcellulose man-made fiber, or both; c) producing a man-made fiber thatcomprises an uncolored man-made fiber, a waterless dope-dyed man-madefiber, or both; d) blending the natural fiber from step (a) with theindividual fibers from step (b), step (c), or both to produce a blendedcomposite of fibers; and e) roving, spinning and winding the blendedcomposite of fibers of step (d) into a final colored heather yarn;wherein the natural fiber, the regenerated cellulose man-made fiber andthe man-made fiber each have a predetermined fiber content ratio informing the colored heather yarn.
 2. The method according to claim 1,wherein the predetermined fiber content ratio of the regeneratedcellulose man-made fiber is between 80% to 3%, and the predeterminedfiber content ratio of the man-made fiber is between 80% to 3%.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the step (a) of processing saidnatural fiber comprises a process selected from a combed process or acarded process.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein saidwaterless dope-dyed man-made fiber of step (c) comprises a waterlessdope-dyed polyester fiber.
 5. The method according to claim 4, whereinthe step of producing the waterless dope-dyed polyester fiber comprisesproducing the waterless dope-dyed polyester fiber using waterlesscolored polyester chips.
 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein thestep of producing the waterless dope-dyed polyester fiber comprises:heating said waterless colored polyester chips to a molten state; andspinning the molten polyester chips to form said waterless dope-dyedpolyester fiber.
 7. The method according to claim 5, wherein saidwaterless colored polyester chips are from one or more liquid-containingvessels.
 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said one or moreliquid-containing vessels are made of a biodegradable syntheticpolyester.
 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein said one or moreliquid-containing vessels comprise said biodegradable syntheticpolyester selected from the group consisting of polyethyleneterephthalate (PET), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs),poly-3-hydroxybutyrates (PHBs), polyhydroxyvalerate (PHV),polyhydroxyhexanoate (PHH), polylactic acid (PLA), polybutylenesuccinate (PBS) and polycaprolactone (PCL).
 10. The method according toclaim 9, wherein said one or more liquid-containing vessels are in theform of colored or uncolored PET granules.
 11. The method according toclaim 10, wherein the step of producing the colored PET granulescomprises: selecting specific colorants; and adding and fixing saidselected specific colorants to said uncolored PET granules by athermodiffusion process.
 12. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe step (d) of blending the individual fibers to produce the blendedcomposite of fibers comprises blending at least 20% of natural fiberwith at least 3% of waterless dope-dyed fiber.
 13. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the step (d) of blending the individual fibers toproduce the blended composite of fibers comprises: a first passagedrawing to form a first blended fiber having a first predetermined fibercontent ratio; and a second passage drawing to form a second blendedfiber having a second predetermined fiber content ratio.
 14. The methodaccording to claim 13, wherein said first passage drawing step comprisesdrawing one dope-dyed polyester fiber with seven raw sliver fibers toform the first blended fiber having a 12.5% colored sliver fiber contentratio, the raw sliver fibers containing raw cotton sliver fibers, rawregenerated cellulose sliver fibers, or both.
 15. The method accordingto claim 13, wherein said second passage drawing step comprises drawingtwo 12.5% colored sliver fibers with six raw sliver fibers to form thesecond blended fiber having a 3.125% colored blended heather sliverfiber content ratio, the raw sliver fibers containing raw cotton sliverfibers, raw regenerated cellulose sliver fibers, or both.
 16. The methodaccording to claim 14, wherein said second passage drawing stepcomprises drawing two 12.5% colored sliver fibers with six raw sliverfibers to form the second blended fiber having a 3.125% colored blendedheather sliver fiber content ratio, the raw sliver fibers containing rawcotton sliver fibers, raw regenerated cellulose sliver fibers, or both.17. A colored heather yarn made according to the method of claim
 1. 18.The colored heather yarn according to claim 17, wherein thepredetermined fiber content ratio of the colored heather yarn is in therange of 20/80 to 97/3 cotton/others.
 19. The colored heather yarnaccording to claim 17, wherein the colored heather yarn has a yarn countof 21/1 Ne or coarser.
 20. The colored heather yarn according to claim17, wherein the colored heather yarn has a yarn count of 21/1 Ne orfiner.